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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27646637">Red</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/for_the_love_of_wolves/pseuds/for_the_love_of_wolves'>for_the_love_of_wolves</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Teen Wolf (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, First Meetings, Hopeful Ending, M/M, Pre-Relationship</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 19:55:57</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,434</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27646637</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/for_the_love_of_wolves/pseuds/for_the_love_of_wolves</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>"Stiles' world stops consisting of mingled shades of grey, when Peter Hale lifts his head from Lydia's still body, looking up at him with eyes bleeding red."</p><p>For the soulmate concept: You see colour for the first time when you meet your soulmate. The colour fades away when they die.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Peter Hale/Stiles Stilinski</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>253</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Red</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Stiles' world stops consisting of mingled shades of grey, when Peter Hale lifts his head from Lydia's still body, looking up at him with eyes bleeding red. Stiles only knows it's red, because the eye colour of Alpha werewolves came up in the books and on the internet. His breath hitches and his eyes start to ache. Everything is suddenly so bright and intense, it hurts. Burns. Overwhelms him.</p><p>Peter stares at him for a long moment. He looks confused. Then, stunned. He blinks repeatedly, red eyes flickering. Stiles guesses Peter is overwhelmed by the sudden burst of colour too. It might be a good moment to do something, if Stiles could move at all.</p><p>"Look at you," Peter eventually breathes and smirks. There are little splotches of red on his fangs. "You ... A little human. I certainly didn't expect that."</p><p><em>Well, I didn't either. And ... I don't want it</em>, Stiles thinks vaguely, fighting back tears. But maybe, he can at least save Lydia. Maybe, Peter is going to listen to him. "Please," Stiles breathes, trying to focus, trying to tear his gaze away from all the colour around him. All the red on Lydia and Peter, all the dark blue of the night sky. "Please don't kill her."</p><p>Peter tilts his head. He looks down at Lydia, then back up at Stiles. "I need her," he says thoughtfully, his eyes distant as if he is listening to a voice inside his head. "I need you too."</p><p>Stiles shivers.</p><hr/><p>Lydia lives. Stiles lives too.</p><p>When Peter asks him if he wants the Bite, Stiles says no and pulls his arm back violently from Peter's very white teeth. He says no, but something inside him whispers yes.</p><p>Peter looks disappointed for a very small moment, but then he shrugs and leaves with firm steps, leaving Stiles behind with all his new terrifying colours and the knowledge that his soulmate is a werewolf - <em>monster</em> - raging with vengeance.</p><p>Much later, when he is alone, Stiles sits on his bed and rocks back and forth in an attempt to calm himself, his arms wrapped around his knees tigthly. He doesn't understand. What kind of sick joke is this? He has been waiting for a day like this for <em>years</em>. The day he would finally see the world in all its great colours and shades like they are described in the books, but ... he didn't want it to happen like this. He didn't want to be the soulmate of a homicidal werewolf. This goes into all the wrong directions. This doesn't have a future.</p><p>Stiles tells no one. Not yet. Instead, he locks himself in his room and starts to search the internet for colour palettes. He wants to be able to give the colors a name.</p><p>Peter's eyes are azure bordering on sapphire, he thinks and his stomach sinks.</p><p>There is a part of him that is sad about this. A part of him thinks, maybe he might have liked the guy Peter was before the fire, werewolf or not. That part of him starts to hate the Argents with a new feriocity. Especially Kate with her disgusting cheerful smile. Now she didn't only wipe out a family only because they were different, she also shattered whatever he could have had with his soulmate. Whoever Peter was before the fire, what he is now is hungry rage and messy vengeance. Nothing more, nothing less. Stiles isn't made for that. The darker part he apparently has inside himself understands Peter, but the other part knows he can't walk down the same path. It rips him apart now too. He lays down, staring at his blanket - red. Red again. - and closes his eyes, trying to protect himself from the onslaught of colors. He didn't think the world was that colorful. It's too much.</p><hr/><p><br/>It starts with fire and it ends in fire.<br/><br/>Now though, Stiles sees the red and orange of the flames, is transfixed by their bright dance.</p><p>He is almost relieved when his world turns back to dull grey after Derek slashes Peter's throat.</p><p>Stiles knows he won't find another soulmate. But he can't find the strenght to care. He tries to forget. Tries to move on.</p><p>But no matter how hard he tries, his mind still turns around and goes back to "azzure bordering on sapphire", goes back to the colors and the beauty created by them. Blue sky and green moss. Silver moon.</p><p>I wouldn't mind seeing that again, Stiles thinks.</p><p> </p><p>He does.</p><p> </p><p>Suddenly, Peter appears in front of him like a ghost materializing in the real world. Stiles is sure his heart stops beating for endless seconds.</p><p>"Holy fucking shit! How," he gasps and stumbles back, overwhelmed yet again by colors. So many colors. Peter is not a ghost. Or a hallucination. He can't be. Otherwise, the colors wouldn't be there. But how ...</p><p>"I told you I need Lydia," Peter says with a grin that reveals white teeth - without a glimpse of blood -, and that ... that explains nothing at all. Peter stares at Stiles with his blue eyes and then clears his throat, suddenly looking more serious. Stiles realises he looks less dishevelled than when they first met. And he got rid of that horrible coat, that made him look like a cheap disney villain. </p><p>But he is still the werewolf that bit Scott and hurt Lydia. </p><p>"Tell me one good reason why I shouldn't call Argent, so he can put some wolfsbane bullets into you," Stiles snarls, taking a huge step backwards.</p><p>Peter sighs. "Listen, Stiles ... I am sorry you had to find out the way you did. My mind ... After six months of being utterly trapped, only with my own thoughts, memories and nightmares as company, I didn't have much space inside there for a potential soulmate. For life. The future. Or anything else. But if you would let me talk to you, if you would let me try to give you a better start ... That would be generous." He stops, looking almost hopeful. "After all," he adds, when Stiles is at loss for words, "I came back for you." </p><p>Stiles' stomach falls. "You came back for me?" he echoes, disbelieving.</p><p>Peter nods. "Yes. I never expected to survive my revenge. It was the only thing I lived for. The only thing I wanted to think of. But then I met you, and you literally opened my eyes. You gave me all these colors and I meant what I said, I like you. I like how smart and witty and cunning you are, I would love to see more of it, if you let me. I never thought I would still meet my soulmate, I always thought maybe there is no one for someone like me. That I would end up alone. Now, I met you and I'm curious. Like I said, it would be generous, if you'd let me talk to you, Stiles. But if you say no, I will leave and never come back," he says and his voice sounds honest.</p><p>Stiles hesitates. Not for the first time, he imagines being trapped, forced to watch everyone he ever loved dying, screaming from the pain of burning alive and choking on smoke. He imagines being abandoned while laying in a hospital bed, unable to move or talk, left to stare up at the ever same ceiling while being moved around by strangers. He imagines being tortured by all the echos of the trauma, by the nightmares and the flashbacks. He imagines living all through this while the world is grey and cold and uncaring.</p><p>And he makes his decision. A stupid one, maybe. He is quite sure everyone else would call it stupid. But screw it.</p><p>"Alright," he says with a sigh. "I will let you talk. But," he raises a finger, as Peter's eyes lighten up, "no more killing. And you are going to apologize to Lydia and stay away from her if she wants you to. And you are going to explain to Scott how being a wolf works and help Derek, because I am pretty sure he is fail-wolfing so hard at the moment, we will be a Beacon for power-hungry rogue Alphas soon."</p><p>Peter smiles. It is not one of his arrogant smirks. It is a genuine smile, and it makes his blue eyes sparkle. Sapphire. At least in the sun. "Okay, sweetheart," he says softly. Just that.</p><p>A little while later, Stiles has a coffee in front of him - the color is a warm soft brown he really likes - and he listens when Peter starts to talk.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>If this story sounds familiar to you, it is because I decided to delete a story collection I didn't feel satisfied with ("For In Between"). It was a mess, there was more than one fandom, and I already have a story collection for short things anyway, so I decided to post these stories as One Shots and edit / extend them a bit. I feel better with that now and I guess it's also easier for readers to find the stories they like this way :)</p></blockquote></div></div>
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